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Finding Surprises, Busts In The Second Half Of The MLB Season

Now that the MLB All-Star game has come and gone, the focus for fantasy baseball owners shifts back to the games that matter. Less than half of the regular season is remaining, which means that owners will be looking for any type of edge to solidify a spot in their league’s playoffs. Here are three players poised for big second halves along with three players who could very well cool off.

Surprises

A terrible first half of the season for Chase Headley has everyone turning sour on him. However, he has too much of a solid track record to simply think he can’t turn things around. The Padres aren’t going anywhere in 2013, but Headley is still a lot better than a .229/.330/.359 hitter with seven home runs and 31 RBI. Get him for cheap now if you can trade for him.

Now that The Freak has a new no-hitter to brag about, fantasy baseball owners might be reluctant to trade him away. With that being said, Lincecum has shown signs in his recent outings that he might be finally getting back to his old self. His 3.83 ERA with over a strikeout per inning in his last seven starts is really encouraging. He could help any rotation down the stretch in fantasy.

Ever since he arrived in the big leagues, Billy Butler has been a truly professional hitter. Despite a below average first half, all of his other statistics seem to look solid. He is still tough to strike out, and he is still making solid contact. Expect his luck to turn around a bit, although his power numbers might never get back to the 29 home runs he hit last year.

Busts

After a lot of hype coming out of Vanderbilt and being drafted #2 overall, Pedro Alvarez put it all together in the first half of the season to make his first All-Star game. However, if you take a closer look at his numbers, his most glaring weakness is still there. He still strikes out way, way too much, and that has a tendency to catch up. His numbers across the board will most likely dip, meaning now would be a good time to sell.

The outfielder has been great throughout his career, but now that he is 36 years old, he just can’t be trusted as an everyday player in fantasy leagues. He has already battled injuries this season, and if 2012 was an indication (.236 hitter after the break), he could be cooling off quickly.

What Bartolo Colon has done this season is pretty remarkable up to this point. His 12-3 record with a 2.70 ERA might be one of the biggest surprises of the first half. However, Colon is 40 years old now, and this is not 2005. Yes, that’s right, Colon hasn’t thrown over 200 innings since 2005, and it seems unlikely that something won’t go wrong during the stretch run.

Guest contribution from Fanduel.com. I highly suggest using their site if you are interested in daily fantasy sports.